Monday night City Council members were asked to make a decision to go against the objections of Warren and his family and send the application to the city’s Historic Preservation Commission for review and a public hearing.

To do so, the council needed at least four votes but only council members John Nolte, Cristina Carrizosa and Mayor Elliott Rothman voted in support. Council members Ginna Escobar and Debra Martin opposed and Councilwoman Paula Lantz didn’t participate due to a conflict of interest.

Gonzalez, a member of the Historic Preservation Commission and the board of directors of the Historical Society of Pomona Valley, said the building is the last of its type in the city and one of the last in all of Southern California.

“It would be kind of a tragedy if it was demolished,” he said.

The building has several features including a prominent neon sign, large glass sections and stone and brick work on the outside. The inside includes cantilevered counter stools, tile work on the walks and hanging lights.

The Googie architectural style was used in many coffee shops in the 1950s and 1960s.

The business opened as Hull’s House, one of four restaurants Melvin Hull, a prominent businessman and civic leader, opened in Pomona. Clyde and Marcia Warren purchased the building and it became the Mission Family Restaurant.

Warren said the business is up for sale because he has not been able to find someone to run it. The current operator plans to close in a month.

“I have looked high and low for an operator,” he said. “Nobody is interested.”

The current operator has run the restaurant for 25 years but has been having a difficult time drawing customers, Warren said, adding that in the past he and his father also struggled.

“It’s never been a profitable location,” he said.

Warren said if the application had been allowed to go through it would make it harder to find a potential buyer.

Should someone buy the property the person will have to present plans and it would have to go through a review process, Warren said.